Amy's Creative Pursuits

Thursday, May 16, 2024

Straw Purses, Totes, or Handbags with "Ageless Style"

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages. Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme. This month's theme is "Straw Purses, Totes, or Handbags" and was picked by Jodie.

Spring and Summer is the perfect time of year to carry a straw handbag. They go seamlessly with our more lightweight outfits and just give that casual vibe of warmer weather. Just like our "Stripes" theme last month, straw bags are always in style but this season they are hot, hot, hot and you will see straw bags everywhere!

Some of the ladies in our group were excited about the challenge because they didn't own a straw bag and it gave them a good excuse to go buy one. I on the other hand, have always been a fan of straw bags and had quite the collection already (see these posts HERE and HERE, for some other examples) and I had to actually decide which straw bag I would feature for today's post. I finally decided on this small straw clutch which I've had for a while but never did a fashion post on it. It did however make an appearance on THIS wedding post.

I thought my straw clutch would coordinate beautifully with my relaxed Caribbean vibe I had going on in this outfit. My pants are new from Ross. I am so into these linen drawstring pants, I can't get enough of them! I keep buying them! I intend to wear them all summer long in place of shorts. They are so cool and comfy.

It's still a little chilly here in Wisconsin most days, so I paired my linen pants with a white denim jacket. I shopped my closet for the top and couldn't believe it matched the color in the pants so perfectly; one would think I bought this as a "set". For shoes, I went with closed toe flats, although I think the outfit would look better with a white sandal. It was just too cool to expose the tootsies on this day.

For jewelry, I kept the beachy vibe going with a shell necklace and bracelet.

This straw clutch also comes with a long chain if you want to use it as a cross body bag. You can see how I used it the chain on the wedding post I linked above.

So what about you? Do you like straw bags, purses, or totes? Do you plan on buying a new one this spring? I'd love to hear from you.

Now be sure to check out how the other ladies in the group are styling their straw bags and link up with us as well.

Have a Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Amy ~ Amy’s Creative Pursuits

Blog | Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook |

Bo ~ Bo's Bodacious Blog

Blog / Instagram /Pinterest / Bloglovin'

Joanne ~ My Slice of Life

Blog

Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style

Blog | Instagram | Facebook

Leslie ~ Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After

Blog | Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook |

Marsha~ Marsha in the Middle

Blog /Instagram

Mireille ~ Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom

Blog | Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook |

Rosemary ~ Distinctly Southern Style

Blog / Instagram / Pinterest / Facebook

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

The Featured Stamper Challenge #900 Celebration!

If you haven't seen me around in blog land much recently it's because I've been keeping a "dirty" little secret: I was asked to become a part of of the "Dirty Dozen" on Splitcoaststampers: aka, I'm officially now one of the "dirty girls". And before you start to worry about me, ha ha, "dirty" is just a fun play on words; we are called the "Dirty Dozen" because our hands are constantly covered in ink from stamping! Fun pun, heh?

Now I realize because I'm a lifestyle blogger and not exclusively a card maker blogger, most of my readers don't have a clue about what I'm talking about. So for those readers let's just say it's like receiving an Oscar for card making. I honestly never in a million years would have thought of being asked to be a part of this incredible team of crafters. I'm still pinching myself that's it real.

So what are the requirements of a Dirty Girl you might ask? Well the main requirement is that I have to make six cards a month for six months which follow a specific theme that changes monthly. I'm not allowed to post those cards to my blog till after my six month period is over. The cards are reserved only for the Splitcoaststampers Fan Club members to view. However, the one I am showing today I can post here because the current Dirty Girl design team was asked to make a make a card for the 900th Featured Stamper Challenge and that gallery is open to the public.

So what is the Featured Stamper challenge you might be wondering? Well, every week on Splitcoaststampers a stamper's gallery from the community is featured and everyone is asked to pick one of the featured stampers cards and "case" it. The first challenge post was 2/11/07 and since then has inspired over 9000 cards, 900 weeks later. To "case" a card, you just create your own card from the inspiration card you picked of the featured stamper's, and change two or more things.

So, here is MY card:

And here is the card I cased. You can find the original card with all the details HERE.

The original card is by Barbara Tarayao. Isn't it beautiful? I love how she did the "hello" sentiment. I chose Barbara's card because I had just purchased a stamp/die set similar to this and wanted to play with it, but I also needed a wedding card so I was trying to catch two birds with one stone.

The major changes I made were the colors, stamp/die set, and theme. But I also changed little detail's like I sewed around the edge of the card using my sewing machine since I didn't have a "stitched" die. I also used a white embossing folder for the background and added glitter glue to all the flower centers. I popped the heart up on dimensionals.

Being on the Dirty Dozen Design Team is a huge time commitment and is especially rough for me as now is the time of year I need to spend so much time outdoors in my garden. But I've been planning ahead and working feverishly on rainy/cold days to get my cards done, so that when the weather is nice, I can be outside. However, I did have to cut back on other things, like blogging, to find the time to do this, so if you haven't seen a lot of posts by me lately, that is the reason why. But soon, I'll be back to a regular blogging schedule and I will have a lot of cards to share with you from my time as part of the "Dirty Dozen".

Have A Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Thursday, April 18, 2024

How to Style Stripes with "Ageless Style"

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages. Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme. This month's theme is "Stripes" and was picked by Joanne.

Every season when the list of "trends" comes out, stripes is on that list. Like denim jackets, utility coats, etc., stripes never go out of style. Yet, they do sway from cool to hot, and this season stripes are hot, hot, hot! I am seeing stripes everywhere, mostly in sweaters or tops, so Joanne was right on trend to pick stripes for our theme this month.

I have actually never been a fan of stripes, especially on my top half. I don't care what "they" say, horizontal stripes on your top half make you look bigger. Since the lower half of my body is smaller than my top half, I am always struggling to balance the two with my clothing choices, so I avoid wearing horizontal stripes on my upper body.

Because stripes have always been trending as long as I've been a fashion blogger, I have tried many horizontal striped tops in the past. I always buy them because they are popular, but then I end up donating them because I don't like the way they look on me. So when Joanne picked "stripes" I was initially tempted to go out and buy one of the trendy new striped sweaters I've been seeing all over the Internet. Then I remembered how I never liked the way they looked on me, so I scratched that idea and I tried to think outside the box. As I searched my own closet it was then that I spotted them! My linen pants. They are stripes, they are just vertical, so they qualify! In my head I kept picturing a horizontal striped top, but stripes can go both ways, and you can wear them on your bottom half too!

I purchased these striped linen pants at TJMaxx last year. I have shown them to you before in THIS POST where I wore them in the summer with a black t-shirt and sandals. But because it is spring, I paired them with a lightweight white cardigan and open-toed heel.

Just like horizontal stripes can make you look wider, vertical stripes can make you look taller and leaner because the long vertical stripes elongate the legs.

My white cardigan is very lightweight; perfect for spring/summer when I might need that extra layer in air conditioned buildings or on chilly mornings/evenings. I purchased it from Carly Jean Los Angeles. My t-shirt is a light grey color to match the grey in the pants. Would you believe I purchased this t-shirt in a pack of two for $3.00 at the Dollar Store? You never know what you will find at the Dollar Store.😀 It's super soft and is such a nice quality t-shirt, something I would normally pay a lot more for at a high end store.

My bag is by Nine West and is super old. I chose this bag because I wanted to add a tad bit of color to this neutral outfit.

My shoes are super old too. They are an open-toe espadrille style.

For jewelry, of which I forgot to take close ups, I chose all silver pieces to match the silver in the pant waist tie. The necklace is a lovely pendent that has a shorter section to fill in the neckline area but then it also has a longer pendant to go down the rest of the top. I also wore silver drop earrings and a silver bangle bracelet. Always complete your outfit with jewelry. The simplest of outfits can be given a boost with jewelry.